Soaking every opportunity for all that its worth

No one will ever be able to accuse Ivette of wasting her time at UIS. She’s taken advantage of so many opportunities for leadership, service and academic development.

She’s a—

Criminal justice major while also minoring in psychology and Spanish;

Member of the Organization of Latin American Students (OLAS);

Mentor for Necessary Steps, which helps first generation students;

Mentor for a new organization for first-generation Latino college students;

Volunteer for the Illinois Innocence Project where she translates documents into Spanish so inmates can better understand them (next year she’ll be a full-fledged intern with IIP);

Member of an official interest group for Gamma Phi Omega, a Latina based sorority with multicultural membership—Ivette is working with others to bring the sorority to campus; and

Student worker in the Office of Records and Registration on campus.

The Suzanna Kay Shiner Scholarship

Another of Ivette’s many activities on campus—playing the viola in the UIS Chamber Orchestra—helped Ivette qualify for the Shiner Scholarship, created in memory of a free-spirited daughter of then UIS professor Larry Shiner.

Suzanna Shiner was an expert in sonar mapping of the ocean floor. In June, 2002, her ship, The Performer, was on its way to search for a downed British helicopter in the Atlantic when Suzanna suffered a burst blood vessel that ended her life.

Family and friends of the UIS community, where her father, Larry Shiner, was a philosophy professor, as well as others in the Springfield area, rallied together to establish the Suzanna Kay Shiner Scholarship in memory of the brilliant young math major, musician and daughter, and this year Ivette is the recipient of this scholarship.

Last year, Ivette received another scholarship, also created in memory of a spirited and successful young woman.

The Lee Humphrey Dodd Scholarship

In 1994, Lee Humphrey Dodd, a Springfield-area attorney, became the first woman to be named first assistant state’s attorney. Her family established a scholarship in her memory in 1996 to honor her life and assist students like her in Public Affairs.

Receiving this scholarship seems particularly appropriate.

Growing up, Ivette heard many times that she could not be a police officer because she was a girl, but that just made her even more determined. “Our criminal justice system needs some change,” she says, “and if I want change, I have to be in there to change it.”

It seems likely that Lee Humphrey Dodd would have approved.

Honored to receive Suzanna’s and Lee’s memorial scholarships

“My experiences at UIS,” she says, “have helped me develop both leadership and social skills, and through them I have discovered my strengths.”

To her scholarship donors, she says, “My family is delighted to hear that I can continue going to school. It seemed like I would never be able to make it this far, but now I can see that I will get my degree and accomplish my goals.”